Antepenultimate rehearsal before August gig

Had a great rehearsal yesterday. Worked through the entire set list.

New numbers,  Illinois Enema Bandit and Latex Solar Beef/Willie The Pimp went particularly well and we're looking forward to unleashing these on the 11th.

Ian Stone was on bass for this session and with Olly Nelken on trombone and Jon, Jo and Steve adding vocals we played an amusing version of Peaches En Regalia (based on the Filmore East version). We'll have to see how it goes at the next rehearsal with Jimmy back on bass before we decide if it's ready to be gigged.

Acetylene Nirvana

London Zappa Collective rehearsed yesterday at a new studio. Survival, where we had been rehearsing, has sadly closed down and so we've moved to nearby Panic Studios. Panic is very comfortable with aircon, good equipment and friendly staff an we had a great time there yesterday. We've added Latex Solar Beef to our set list and Jo and Steve did a good job of emulating Flo and Eddie. They were also nicely in sync on Pojama People as you can hear here:
Pojama People rehearsal

London Zappa Collective gig in Barnes

We will be playing 2 full sets and will be including some new numbers.

Our double bill in Ruislip

Acton Zappa and London Zappa Collective shared the bill and played a gig at Tropic At Ruislip last week-end. Finishing the night with both bands being on stage and playing together. Here's the flyer and set list. It went really well. We had a very good, appreciative crowd and everyone enjoyed it. Who would have thought there would be so many Zappa fans in Ruislip. We've been invited back, so keep an eye out for the date of our next gig there.

New Players for both Acton Zappa and London Zappa Collective

Next week-end, 6/7th Jan, Acton Zappa will be rehearsing with new keyboards, new bass plus a percussionist. LZC will be joined by a second guitarist, a trumpeter and a singer. It's going to be a busy week-end and I'm very much looking forward to both bands moving forward and having a great start to 2018.

Date for Zappadan Zappajam #4

Next year's Zappadan Zappajam will be number 4. The date is set at Saturday 1st December 2018 and the hall is booked. Put it in your diary. What bands will be playing? You'll have to wait and see. Zappa fun is guaranteed.

Review of Zappadan Zappajam 3

On this their first gig London Zappa Collective were bass, drums, guitar and baritone sax. They opened the evening with the little performed Elvis Has Just Left The Building. This was followed up with another song about Elvis dying called Elvis Presley Blues by Gillian Welch. LZC were joined on stage at this point by guest player Bob Ash of The Straw Dogs who contributed a fine rockabilly guitar solo. Graham Davis of Gabba Zappa Hey now joined them on stage and played a blistering solo on Chunga's Revenge. Other highlights included Jo Fox singing the Amy Winehouse number Wake Up Alone, Bo Ash killing Black Napkins (it was like Frank was there), Jon the drummer sang Just A Little Bit and Jimmy on bass sang Going Down. The motto AAAFNRA was followed. LZC finished their set with the popular Cosmik Debris and Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance.

Tuesday Blue were a little late starting because Sarah Burley, their fabulous singer, was delayed with work and bad traffic. Sarah and the boys entertained with their usual gusto and included the Zappa numbers You Didn't Try To Call Me, Joe's Garage and Your Mouth. Hopefully these will remain in their set.

Finally Acton Zappa took the stage. Fred Handl had been due to play with them but sadly he had to cancel a few days before. Undaunted the four piece band opened with an instrumental medley of Latex Solar Beef, Oh No, Orange County Lumber Truck, Black Napkins, Big Swifty, Peaches en Regalia and Dog Breath. Many appreciative comments were made such as "That was really tight . man". Now it was song time and these were: Carolina Hard Core Ectasy, Camarillo Brillo and Muffin Man. We Are Not Alone finished the set. An encore was demanded and after a brief band conference on stage the evening finished with Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance as it had gone so well when LZC had played it earlier. The audience danced wildly but being December clothes were mostly kept on.